I am about to embark on building a harpsichord from a Zuckermann kit and, although it will be another week or two before it arrives, preparations are already underway.
The first task was to clear some space in the garage and set up a work bench. I already had a fairly solid bench, but it was only 6' x 2' and I wanted something that would be big enough to support the entire instrument so I made a new 7' x 3' top for it out of 3/4" plywood and some 2x3 studs.
The new top fits very neatly on top of the existing bench with the studs on the underside holding it in place. I had intended to use a couple of lag screws at each end to secure it but the fit is so good that doesn't seem to be necessary.
Unfortunately I may not be able to do as much work in the garage as I had initially hoped. Harpsichords are particularly sensitive to variations in humidity which cause the wood to expand and contract and you really want things to be as stable as possible during construction and, especially when fitting the soundboard. The relative humidity inside the house over the last 6 months or so has been almost entirely in the range 40% to 50% which is very reasonable for a harpsichord - the garage however can range from 35% to 60% relative humidity in under 24 hours and that is going to be a problem. Most of the variation appears to be attributable to the fairly wide temperature swings that we have seen in the last few days - ranging from 60F to 82F - things might be a little better in a few months.
May i ask, what was the price of this Zuckermann kit? I am interested in building one too.
ReplyDeleteI purchased the Zuckermann kit almost 5 years ago in July 2010. At that time the kit itself cost approximately $5,000 and shipping from Connecticut to California was about $450.
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